Over the years, many systems have been devised for securing and tensioning the strings of stringed musical instruments. Strings for musical instruments are usually provided with one end enlarged (as by having an attached ball or small ring), while the other end (the free end) is unfinished.
One common tuning system in use today creates tension in the strings by wrapping the free ends around tuning posts fixed at the head end of the instrument neck, which posts are turned through a worm gear arrangement to create the required tension. The ball ends of the strings pass through openings in a tail piece, through which the balls or rings cannot pass. This system, while in common use, has stability problems because the worm gear drives needed to operate the tuning posts have backlash making precise tuning difficult, and also the strings can tighten around the posts after once being tightened, detuning the instrument.
In an alternate tuning system, the ball end of the string is held in a jaw, which is threaded to accept a screw that pulls the string taut. In this kind of system, the free end of the string is held in a clamp which ordinarily requires a tool of some sort to operate. This is obviously inconvenient at any time, but particularly in the course of a performance.
The present invention permits the free end of the string to be clamped without using tools, using the tension in the string itself to provide the clamping force. In one of its aspects, the present invention also provides (in combination with the string tension actuated clamp previously mentioned) a tuning system which has greater stability than the worm gear tuning posts of the past.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for clamping the strings of a stringed musical instrument wherein the force holding the string is provided by the tension in the string itself. It is a further object of the invention to provide a stable tuning system for a stringed musical instrument combined with a clamp actuated by string tension.
The present invention utilizes the tension in a string to provide a clamping force on the string, restraining the string from slipping longitudinally (and thereby altering the tension). The clamping force is obtained by using one or more levers to convert string tension into clamping force.
The invention has application to all classes or families of stringed musical instruments, i.e., lutes (including violins), zithers, lyres, and harps. Such instruments include a plurality of strings under tension, the strings being anchored at each end. At one end of each string are means for adjusting the string tension, i.e., means for tuning the instrument.
For clarity, the structure of the musical instrument to which the invented clamping means is attached is not shown in the drawings. Nevertheless, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate how the mechanism described would be integrated into a particular instrument. The invention may be installed at either end of the string as is convenient in a particular situation.
In a first embodiment of the invention, a single simple lever (one lever associated with each string) is aligned with its axis substantially perpendicular to the direction of string pull. Each string passes over the end of its associated lever such that the force of the string pull is exerted on the lever arm, and the lever tends to turn. The lever arm opposite the point of application of string pull is arranged to pinch the string against a fixed stop, thereby anchoring the string. Excess string may be cut off.
In a second embodiment of the invention, string pull is exerted on the end of a lever as in the first. embodiment, but a second lever, pivotally connected to the first lever and bearing against a stop, is used to provide the string pinching force.
In a third embodiment of the invention, instead of bearing against a fixed stop, the second lever bears against an adjustable screw, thereby providing a means for adjusting string tension for tuning purposes.